UFC Fight Night 178 Odds: Mackenzie Dern vs. Randa Markos Prediction

Jeremy Perry
Last Updated: September 17, 2020

UFC Fight Night 178 will take place on Saturday, September 19^th in Las Vegas, Nevada. While the main event of the evening is a bout between Colby Covington and Tyron Woodley, we have an intriguing lady’s bout on the main card. Markos is a big dog but can she surprise in this spot?

UFC Vegas 11 Odds: Dern vs. Markos

Mackenzie Dern -155
Randa Markos +125

Mackenzie Dern

Dern started her MMA career with seven straight wins but then a loss to Amanda Ribas in October of 2019 slowed her momentum. It was the first loss of her career, which came as a decision. She quickly rebounded, beating Cifers in May of this year. That was a quick bout as Cifers tapped out in the first round (kneebar). That fight won her Performance of the Night honors and bumped her back into the Top 15 of the women’s strawweight rankings (she’s No. 15).

Dern definitely looks to submit her opponents as she’s actually never won a fight by knockout. Of her eight wins, five are by submission and three are by decision. The question is whether or not she’ll be able to take down Markos and put her in those uncomfortable positions. Markos has eight losses on her resume but only one was via submission.

Randa Markos

At 10-8-1 in her MMA career, Markos has had the definition of an up-and-down career. On the plus side, she has two wins in her last four – including one of Angela Hill, who headlined last week’s UFC card. On the down side, she’s lost two of her last four, which includes a loss to Amanda Ribas, who Dern previous beat.

The good news for Markos is she’ll have experience on her side. Dern has just four UFC fights under her belt, so one might say that Markos has actually fought tougher competition. Markos has been in the UFC since 2014 and has gone toe-to-toe with some recognizable names like Carla Esparza (who is No. 7 in the strawweight rankings) and Karolina Kowalkiewicz, who once fought for the Strawweight Championship. Markos beat Esparza but lost to Kowalkiewicz.

The other side of experience is age. Dern is just 27 years old while Markos is 35. That could prove to be a factor here.

Outside of a draw in 2018, Markos has alternated wins and losses in 16 straight fights. She’s coming off a loss, so that might mean it’s time for her to get back in the win column.